Tag: Android

There were a huge number of announcements yesterday at Google I/O but two of them that are sparking a lot of interest are Google Allo and Duo.  Allo is the new messaging app from the company that brings a significant amount of personalization and leverages Google’s machine learning on the back end to allow you to get quick replies that are more personal to you.  Duo is the company’s new one-on-one video app that allows you to make video calls seamlessly with other people, even if they are on iOS.  While both apps aren’t expected for a few months, you can add both of them to your wishlist in the Google Play Store today.

Fitbit has made an update to their Android app that brings the ability to track your steps using your Nexus 5X or Nexus 6P without having a tracker device from the company.  The move is an interesting one as, to this point, you had to have a Fitbit device to track your steps on Android with the tracker connecting to your phone via Bluetooth.  Thanks to the Android Sensor Hub coprocessor that is in the 5X and 6P, that is no longer required.  If you have another phone, however, this new feature won’t work for you.

After months of speculation and rumor, Google has announced that Android Pay is now available in the United Kingdom.  The tap-and-pay service rolled out with support from eight nationwide banks and is supported by dozens of retailers across the country.  That support includes the Transport for London network.  Now users in the UK will be able to use their phones to make purchases without having to pull a card out of their wallet, making purchases faster and more conveniently.

There are phones with good selfie front facing cameras and then there is the new Sony Xperia XA Ultra.  The latest offering from Sony was announced today and the new Ultra comes with an impressive 16MP front facing camera for the perfect selfie shot.  The new phone though doesn’t stop at just this one feature.  It is packed and flagship quality features and specs including a MediaTek MT6755 eight-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.  That storage can be expanded up to an additional 200GB thanks to the MicroSD slot built into it.

Google Translate is a great little app that allows you to translate text on your Android phone from one language to another.  The one hitch however is that you would have to copy that text from your original app, where the foreign text is found, and paste that into the Translator app.  It worked, but it was a bit clunky.  Google agreed and in the latest update to the app, you can now do the translation right within the original app via a Translate floating button.  The update is rolling out into the Google Play Store now and for those of you who heavily depend on the app, this will be a big time saver.

The Google Play Store for Android has had a back-end update that brings a new pre-release section to the store.  The section of the store will allow you to register to get notified when an app in the section is released so you can be one of the first to download it and use it.  Right now the section only has three apps in it:

• The Wizard of Oz:  Magic Match
• MMX Hill Climb
• Britney Spears: American

It is pretty clear that there will be more apps to be add as the section of the store grows.